Few people take seriously the degradation of our planet Earth. They
go about their lives, unconcerned – as long as they and their loved
ones are comfortably provided for. They marginalize those who care for
anything outside their own narrow self-interests by tossing well-worn
clichés at them, such as “tree-huggers.”

This self-centeredness reminds me of a Bible passage in Luke, where
Jesus describes the attitude of the people before His return:

Luke 17:24, 26-30

24 "For just as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of
the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man
be in His day.

26 "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be
also in the days of the Son of Man:

27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they
were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were
eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they
were planting, they were building;

29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and
brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 "It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is
revealed.

~ New American Standard Bible

Now I want to quote from Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc. on
how animal rights will benefit ecosystems and conservation:

“Raising animals for food, using land in ways that harm wildlife, and
other human practices injurious to nonhuman animals are linked to
Earth’s and humanity’s most serious ecological problems: pollution,
global warming, species extinctions, intensifying hurricanes, rapid
fresh water and topsoil loss, food shortages, rainforest and wetland
destruction, “too many” of some animals where people don’t want them,
the spread of Lyme disease, the reemergence of malaria, and more.

“Current efforts to protect “the environment” are failing.

“Basic resources such as topsoil and fresh water are becoming
increasingly scarce as the human population continues to grow and
technology runs rampant. Raising animals for food – including growing
crops to feed them – uses far more topsoil, water, and oil than farming
to fill people’s stomachs. When agriculture began, about 5 million
people existed on Earth. Today, about 165 times that number are
malnourished.

“We cannot solve these and other ecological & conservation problems
as long as we fail to establish basic legal rights for nonhuman
animals.”

Before I close for today, I should mention how so many “Christians”
have sold out to self-indulgence, and delude themselves thinking that
they and their loved ones will never suffer because they will be
“raptured” out of the Earth at Christ’s return. They seem to think that
it is their God-given right to rape and pillage the Earth, since they
will not be here to suffer any consequences.

Concluded tomorrow.

"Joyful Curmudgeon"
An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful. At the
same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the
world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true
peace and compassion.